Exegesis of the Book of Jonah
... do what he vowed - as a prophet. But he hasn't changed his mind about the Ninevites. Chapter 3 - God spoke to Jonah again and this time he obeyed. We know the city of Nineveh was 7 miles around its perimeter.4 So being a large city it took him 3 days to make it through. When the news reached the king after only one day - it says he rose and immediately began to repent with sack cloth and wasted no time in demanding that the whole city follow his decree in vs 8. "And God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways," because of their actions God relented vs 10. Chapter 4 - God's change of mind regarding their destruction greatly displeased Jonah (vs 1) Jonah, admitted God was a compassionate God - the very reason he disobeyed - he did not want Nineveh to see God's compassion (vs 2). Jonah would rather die than to accept God's will here (vs 3) His disposition toward Nineveh and who they were clouded his judgement. And still in his unbelief he went up on the hill to wait and see what God would do (vs 5). This is where God shows Jonah his utter selfishness - concern for his comfort and a vine trivial things, rather than the destruction of 120,000 people. In vs 11, the way Nineveh was described, "who cannot tell their right hand from their left" is a Hebrew way of describing children. Ray Stedman paraphrases what God is saying like this, "You can take pity on a plant but you can't take pity upon a great city filled with children and people who don't know their way, who don't know their God." 5 INTERPRETATION: *Playing with Fire: ASK: What does this passage tell us about Israel's behavior in her **covenantal relationship with God and about God's response to His people and those areas *that we may also be susceptible to neglect within our new covenant relationship. 6 It is obvious that Jonah's heart was not in line with God's. God wanted to show compassion, Jonah did not. Even in the end when Jonah saw the reaction of the people to his message he was still self absorbed. He literally had no compassion whatsoever for these people. His prayer (2:8) gives a hint of what he thought of them. " Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." This prophetic book has a rebuke in it for Israel. A wicked nation was willing to repent in one day and Israel, who boasted about being God's elect, refused to obey after generations of prophets. 7 *Playing with Fire: ASK: What does this passage tell us about God's plan for Israel (now past) or His plans *for His new covenant people (now present or still future)? 8 Because of some of the subtleties in the writing style of Jonah we get the picture that all men are equal in God's eyes. Because "nationalities" of the Ninevites or Jonah are not mentioned only their ethnicity we see that God cares equally for gentles as well Jews. Galatians 3:8 says "The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." God's goal from the beginning was to redeem the world through His son, therefore, God set apart the Israelites to be a witness to the nations (Genesis 12:3) and to ultimately bring forth a Savior for the entire world. Galatians 3:13-14 tells us specifically that is why God chose Israel ..."in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles." Acts 3:25 "And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed." It is not surprising that God chose to show compassion on Gentiles even back in Jonah's time as he did throughout the Old Testament. Another purpose God could have had to show compassion to the Ninevites was to be an example to the Pharisees in Jesus' time. Jesus said in Luke 11:30 that the sign of Jonah was sufficient for the repentance of the Ninevites, and the Pharisees had someone greater than Jonah and they refused to believe. Sanctity of life is a central theme of the book of Jonah. He desires not to destroy life but to preserve it. We even see that the sailors, pagan as they were, were also concerned about taking one mans life. In the end God shows Jonah that he cares for even a pagan nation, and he must relent and not destroy them. 9 It is interesting that the nationalities and names of the characters are not important, the shipmaster, the king, Jonah doesn't mention his nationality - he says he is a Hebrew, The nationality of the Ninevites is not mentioned only the name of the city. This is because the emphasis in this book is the relationship of people (all people) to God and repentance.10 It seems a main thread throughout the story is Jonah's inability to accept the will of God. Vs 1:3 does not mean that God could not find Jonah in Tarshish but more likely that the distance would change God's plan, like Jonah's actions could thwart or undermine the will of God. 11 In vs 4:1 again Jonah would rather die than accept God's compassion toward the Ninevites. The sovereignty of God comes through strong in this prophecy. Jonah acknowledges to the sailors God's sovereignty in (1:3) creator of the land and sea. He is ruler of the creatures of the sea as well (2:1 ) And he is in control of the plants (4:6) and worms (4:7) and wind (4:8). The utter hardness of Jonah's heart becomes so apparent in his desire to spurn the will of the sovereign God who saw fit to recognize the repentance of a pagan nation and change his mind about destroying them. Jonah's life is a paradox as A.R. Faussett points out. He was a prophet of God - yet a runaway from God, a man drowned - but alive, a preacher of repentance - but resentful of Nineveh's repentance. 12 Jonah at the brink of loosing consciousness, offers a prayer of repentance, likewise Nineveh at the brink of destruction offers a prayer of repentance. 13 Jonah himself, saved from immanent death was the best candidate to preach to Nineveh and understand their plight. But the hardness of his heart prevented him from seeing the irony. There were two generations of Israelites that God used Nineveh's example of repentance to rebuke and provoke. Deut 32:21, "They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; ...